Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
The main advantage of the Macrobiotic diet is the cleansing that happens to the body of all stored up toxins, excess fat and even stored up dark/sad emotions. It is a very sattvic diet that helps you keep a calm mind and soul. It heals illnesses without medicines or needing very little medication. Macrobiotic diet is very popular with cancer patients as they are usually recommended high fiber and low fat foods.
Vegetables, beans and whole grains in the macrobiotic diet guarantee high fiber and low fat content, thus avoiding high fat and saturated fat. There is also the presence of phytoestrogens in this diet with soyfood and this is known to mitigate the menstrual problems that bother women most often.
Disadvantages
Many nutritionists believe the macrobiotic diet—especially the one propagated by George Ohsawa is a very restrictive diet. The diet is stepped up in different stages and at once stage the practitioner is allowed only brown rice and water. Avoidance of dairy food in the diet leads to a severe calcium deficiency that is compensated through nuts and green leafy vegetables, only to a certain extent. The Kushi diet popularized in North America by Michio Kushi in 1978 is seen as a popular alternative to Ohsawa’s macrobiotic diet.
Word of caution-
Like any other diet, we must be careful not to go to extreme like having only brown rice for months. That will only cause nutritional deficiencies and cause diseases. Read extensively about the macrobiotic diet and consult a doctor or a dietician before trying out this diet.
